In chilling testimony at Wesley Dallas Ayers' preliminary federal hearing in Greenville Thursday afternoon, an FBI agent described investigators finding multiple explosive and "hoax devices" in Anderson County, including some containing letters warning about jihad and pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.

FBI agent Ted Socha said a behavioral analysis of Ayers indicates that the 27-year-old could be fueled by methamphetamine and violence. Socha said meth, the drug that would keep Ayers awake at night, could allow him to work in an old shed on Travis Road under the cover of darkness mixing his own concoctions of gunpowder and crafting homemade explosives.

Ayers, 27, is federally charged with possessing an unregistered firearm. The court document showing that charge was made public late Monday. Other court documents in the case, including the affidavit supporting that charge, have not yet been made public.

Socha detailed in testimony how investigators found at least two live explosive devices within a couple of miles of Ayers' home.

One was discovered Jan. 30 near the intersection of Travis and Martin roads. In that case, a 49-year-old man found a wicker basket and heard something in it hissing. When he opened the basket, the device detonated and he suffered a minor leg injury, according to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office. His 14-year-old daughter was with him, and her screams were captured on home video and audio surveillance footage.

Along with the basket was a drawing that depicted the White House with flames superimposed over it, Socha testified Thursday. Included were Arabic references to the "mother of Islam" and a drawing depicting Osama bin Laden in front of the White House, Socha said.

Other "hoax boxes" that didn't contain live devices were discovered in early February, Socha said. One of the boxes included a three-page typed letter that said the incident with the wicker basket in January "was only the start" of what the community could expect, and that "gifts" would keep coming "until the Islamic State and flag are above all others," Socha testified.

The packages did keep coming.

One was a teddy bear that had been wired so its eyes glowed in the dark, Socha said. The agent said Ayers has a tattoo that matches the bear almost identically, including the glowing eyes.

Letters kept coming with the packages, too.

One said: "Your county will soon understand that you are no longer safe."

Another writing claimed that the people responsible for one of the packages were "30 miles away, but we're not telling you the direction," Socha testified.

Another suspicious package, this time with a live explosive, was discovered in the area of Travis and Little Mountain roads on Feb. 24, prompting the FBI to set up a command center for a couple of days at nearby Mountain Creek Baptist Church.

Ayers was arrested Saturday during an investigation that is still being led by the FBI and includes the Anderson County Sheriff's Office bomb squad. On Tuesday FBI agents were back out at the Travis Road property that is listed as Ayers' address. FBI spokesman Don Wood confirmed that agents had interest in a car in that area but did not go into further detail.

The U.S. Attorney's Office asked a judge in a court filing earlier this week to keep the affidavit sealed because it "contains information provided by cooperating witnesses and highly sensitive to an ongoing investigation." A legal brief said prosecutors fear that publicly disclosing case information could lead to the destruction of evidence and compromise the safety of witnesses.

Socha testified about talking with two confidential informants who had direct knowledge of Ayers' activities. Socha said both of the informants had been around Ayers in 2017 and had observed things that included his bomb-making activities. One informant told FBI agents that Ayers liked to beat cats to death, that he would strike them with a baseball bat he named Lucille until they were flattened.

Benjamin Stepp, Ayers' defense attorney, tried to call into question the credibility of the informants. He said that both had criminal records and meth habits.

Socha also testified that after Ayers was taken into custody, investigators determined that his fingerprints matched prints lifted from at least one of the devices found in Anderson County.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Brewer described Ayers as an "ongoing dangerous and very violent threat to himself, his family and the people of Anderson County."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin McDonald ordered that Ayers remain in jail without bail. He said there is "clear and convincing" evidence that no combination of conditions placed on Ayers would be enough to keep people safe if Ayers were released.

Follow Nikie Mayo on Twitter @NikieMayo or email her at mayon@independentmail.com.